Automobile-signal.



Y stares les l cierro LEONARD L, ZACHABIASQOF WECHI'LA, SAS.

acrecienta-stenen.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 6,1917.

Application led August 4, 1916. Serial No. 113,156.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD L. ZAcrr` Aunis, a citizen of the United States, resld-4 ing at lWichita, in the county of Sedgwick warning may be given to a vehicle following an automobile or to pedestrians whenever said automobile is about to turn in either direction or to come toa stop.

ne of the objects of the invention is to provide a signal adapted to be placed at each side of or be built into the vehicle and whichy can be operated from the steering wheel or other convenient place, it being possible to shift either or both of the signals out of their normal positions where they will be visible to drivers of vehicles in the front and rear thereof and to pedestrians.

A still further object is to provide electrically operated means of novel form for shifting the signal to active position.

Another object is to provide la signal apf 'paratus which can be readily applied to the wind shield or other part of a vehicle or can be built into the vehicleand which is simple and compact in construction and does not detract from the appearance of the vehicle. vf l o lilith/the foregoing and other objects in view which will 'appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of thc invention herein disclosed, can be'madc within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention. i

,In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown. l

ln said drawings:-

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the housing of the signal, the signal armv being shown in full lines in active or raised position and in dotted lin-es in its normal or lowered position and the electrical connections being shown diagrammatically.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the signal apparatus.

Referring tothe figures by characters of reference l designates va base plate adapted to be fastened in any suitable manner to a wind shield or other part of a vehicle, this plate b eing provided ywith a cap 2 forming a housing and which cap has a slot 3 extending within one side and a portion of the bottoni thereof.

Arranged within the cap and extendin from the base plate l is a stud 4 on whic a signal arm 5 is mounted, this arm projecting through the slot 3 and being adapted to swing within said slot from a vertical to a horizontal position and vice versa. The hub portion 6 of the signal arm has a segmental armature 7 fixed relative thereto and this armature carries 'a contact 7 designed," during the movement of the armature through 90 degrees, to successively enmounted on an insulating strip 11 or otherwise suitably insulated from each other.

Arranged adjacent the contact plates are radially disposed magnets 11, 12 and 13,

the magnet 11 being electrically connected to the contact'strip 8, the magnet 12 being electrically connected. to the contact strip 9, and the magnet 13 being electrically connected to the contact strip 10. The sev-l eral magnets are preferably supported by a the vehicle.

bowed strip lll mounted on the base l and which holdsthe magnets radiallyv disposed relative to the stud 4. The several magnets are electrically connected to a switch 15 which, in turn, is electrically connected to a source of electrical energy indicated at A16 and the source is connected to the base 1.

LThe switch 15 may be in the form of a push button mounted on the steering Wheel of the vehicle or some other place where it can be conveniently reached. A small lamp 17 may be arranged upon the outer portion of the arm 5 and this lamp is preferably designed to give a red light.v The lamp may be electrically connected in any suitable manner with a source of electrical energy. When the signal is used in connection with an automobile or the like, the same is connected to one side of the wind shield or other portion of the vehicle or is built into Preferably a pair of the signals is used, one being arranged at each side of the vehicle. with an individual switch 15.

Under normal conditions, the arm 5 of each signal hangs downwardly close to the Each signal is providedl 75 gage arcuate contact plates 8, .9 and 10 side of the vehicle and the segmental armature 7 is supported against a stop or buffer 184on the base l and partly in the iield of the magnet 1l. When the armature is thus located the contact 7 engages the contact strip 8.

When it is desired to shift the arm 5 to raised or active position, the operator closes the switch 15. rl`hus a circuit Will be established from the source 16 through base 1 and .stud el to the segmental armature 7 and thence through Contact 7 and strip 8 to the magnet 11. 7 hen the magnet is thus energized it will shift the armature 7 out of its normal position, thereby bringing the contact 7 into engagement with strip 9 Whereupon the magnet 12 will be energized and the armature will be drawn into the field of said magnet. This will result in the contact 7 coming into engagement with the strip 10 whereupon the third magnet 13 will be energized and the segmental armature 7 brought to the position indicated by full lines iii Fig. l. Thus the arm 5 Will be brought to and maintained in active or horizontal position. If the arm at the left side of the machine is raised in this manner it will indicate to the driver of a vehicle in rear of the one to which the signal is applied andto drivers and pedestrians in front of the machine that a turn is to be made to the left. Should the arm at the right of the `vehicle be raised it Will indicate that a turn is to be made to the right. Should both arms be raised by closingf both of the switches l5, it would indicate that the vehicle is to be brought to a stop. As soon as the circuit is broken by opening switch 15 the arm 5 will gravitate to its normal position, indicated by dotted lines.

The cap 2 can be attached to the basel in any suitable manner. lin the construction .shown it is held in place by a screw 19 ennaaste gaging the stud l and by additional screws 20 extending into the base. rlfhese screws 2O can also be used as a means for attach ing the 'oase l to the vehicle.

The contact 7 can be in the form of spring pressed pin earriedby the armature 7 and yieldingly engaging the strip 8, 9 or 10 adjacent thereto.

The lamp l? will indicate at night the position of tho arm 5.

"What is claimed is z* A signal embodying an oscillatory signal arm, an. armature movable therewith, an arw cuate series .of eiectromaguets for attract ing said armature in succession to swing the arnl from one position to another, an arcuate series of eox'ilacis, one for each electromagto net, a eontae. movable. Wilh said arm and armature and engageable with said series of contacts in succession, and a source of electrical energy connected to said electroniagnets and having one pole connected te said series of contacts and its other pole connected to the last mentioned Contact, 'the contacts being so arranged that when 'the last mentioned contact engages any Contact of said series, the corresponding electromagnet immediately in advance of the arma* ture will be connected in circuit with e source of electrical energy to attract armature, and in orde;I that the last mentioned Contact in moving 'with the ar.' a'tu toward the respective energized electron net will be. brought into engagement i the next Contact oi the series 'to continue the movement of said arm and armature.. v

ln testimony that l'. claim the foregoing f as my own, l have hereto affixed my signature in the presence oi two witnesses.

LEONARD L. ZrCH-KAS. 1ilitnesses D. E. LYNGH, H. L. Bunce. 

